I was sitting on my bed reading a magazine when the telephone rang.
"Hello?" I asked, picking up the phone.
"Hey, Hallie. Do you want to go to a party with me tonight?" Elle asked through the phone.
I haven't been to one in a while, so I figured it'd be fun.
"Sure. What time?" I asked.
"I'll come by your house at like 7, and we can go together," she replied.
"Okay, sounds good. See you soon!" I exclaimed.
"Hallie, there's someone at the door for you," my mom called from downstairs after I hung up with Elle.
"Hold on, I'm coming," I shouted, getting off my bed and walking downstairs.
I opened the door, revealing Jack, standing there with a flower.
Just at I was about to slam the door in his face, he stuck his foot out.
"Before you say anything, I want you to know I'm sorry. It was wrong of me to do something like that. And if it's okay with you, I'd like to have a second chance, " he said, looking hopefully at me.
"No. Goodbye," I replied, trying to close the door once more.
But, he stuck his foot out again, stopping me from closing it.
"Please? Let's start over," he begged.
"I said no. Guys, like you always come back, apologizing, but you just keep doing it. You had your chance, and you blew it, so buh bye," I replied, actually closing the door this time.
"I'll keep trying, Hallie! I'm not giving up," he yelled through the door and then left.
"Yeah, good luck," I muttered to myself, walking into the kitchen to grab something to eat.
I rummaged through the pantry, but we didn't have much, so I decided to go to the grocery store.
"Mom, I'll be back soon, I'm going to the store," I told her.
"Okay, sweetie, be safe!" She replied, giving me a hug.
On my walk to the store, I saw Benny sitting outside on his porch. That's weird, I figured he'd be playing baseball since that's what he's always doing.
"Hey Benny, what are you doing?" I asked from across the street.
"Just enjoying the weather," he replied.
He sounded like an old man.
"Okay," I said skeptically.
"Where are you going?" He asked.
"The grocery store," I replied.
"Can I come? I'm so bored. Most of the guys are busy today, so there's nothing to do," he said, jogging over to me.
"I guess. I thought it was weird that you weren't playing baseball," I replied, nudging his side.
"And I thought it was weird you weren't out shopping with Elle," he teased, nudging me back.
"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" I asked, pretending to be offended.
"No, I didn't mean it like that, I'm so-
"Chill out, I was kidding," I replied, cutting him off.
"Oh, okay," he said.
The rest of the walk was pretty quiet. We only talked a little bit.
"What are you getting?" Benny asked as we stepped into the store.
"I don't know, I was just hungry, and we didn't have much in the pantry," I replied, grabbing a cart.
He nodded his head and followed me as I started looking down the produce aisle.
I went to get a strawberry carton, but couldn't quite reach them.
I looked at Benny, and he grabbed them for me, knowing what I wanted.
"Thanks," I said, putting them in the cart.
"No problem, shorty," he replied.
"Hey, I'm not that short," I said.
He rolled his eyes and laughed, "Okay, whatever you say."
After about a half hour, I finished shopping and paid for the groceries.
On the walk back, I saw a familiar group of boys outside of Vincent's drugstore.
"Hey, look, guys, it's Benny and the girl," Phillips said, laughing to his friends.
"Hey, she has a name," Benny said, sticking up for me.
"I don't know what's so funny, but if I can remember right, I think this girl whooped your butt at baseball," I replied, starting to walk away.
Phillips grabbed my wrist and turned me around, "What did you say?" He asked, getting up in my face.
"Get off of her!" Benny yelled, pushing him off me.
"Hey, we were just joking around, right sweetheart?" He smirked, pushing a strand of my hair out of my face.
I grabbed his arm off of me and punched him right in the face.
"Don't ever touch me with your filthy hands again," I replied, leaving him on the ground, in shock.
I started walking away, not bothering to look back.
"Hallie, wait up," Benny called from behind me.
I kept walking because I really just wanted to get home now.
"That was pretty awesome, I don't think any of us would have done that to Phillips," he said, catching up to me.
"Well, he deserved it. He was being a jerk," I replied.
"Yeah. Thanks for letting me tag along, see you tonight," he said, walking towards his house.
"Hold on, what do you mean tonight?" I asked, confused.
"The party, remember? Elle said you were going with her," he replied.
"I am, but I didn't know you were going. Ugh, are all of the guys gonna be there?" I asked.
"Yeah, they are. Why's that so bad?" He responded.
"Have you seen how they act?" I asked, raising my eyebrow.
"Fair enough. See you soon," he replied.
Then, I continued walking home to start getting ready for the party. It was going to be interesting with the sandlot boys there.
